Ruin
Notes
Transcript
Timeline
Timeline
Before we can actually get in to the text we first have to get a grasp of where we are in the history of Israel and the context of these books
That means before we can talk about this idea of being whole again we have to first figure out why Israel wasn’t whole
So in 2 Kings 24-25 we get the historical narrative of the moment that Israel is overtaken by Babylon and lead into exile for over 40 years.
When Babylon overtook Israel they basically razed the city, burning everything to the ground, the walls, the temple, everything
And after their time in Exile, there is a moment where the Israelites are allowed to return to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild their city.
Now if we zoom in on this timeline, during the return, this is what we will be looking at in this series.
The return to Jerusalem happened in 3 main phases:
A Return with Zerubbabel
A Return with Ezra
A Return with Nehemiah
These returns, in total, take place over the course of roughly 60+ years
Before we get in to this text, its important to note, that this sermon is a context sermon. While the chapter we are looking at isn’t actually the beginning of the story, it examines the state of Israel prior to the returns
So we will look at the state of Israel today in Nehemiah 1
Text
Text
Nehemiah 1
The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
During the month of Chislev in the twentieth year, when I was in the fortress city of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile. They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned.”
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. I said,
Lord, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands, let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer that I now pray to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned. We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses. Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.” They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand. Please, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.
At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.
Message
Message
1. The State of Ruin & Its Reason
1. The State of Ruin & Its Reason
Nehemiah 1:3
They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned.”
What lead to this moment? Well there is a lot of history that happened before this but if I could sum it up it was a seeking after, a trusting in things other than the LORD.
Before entering the promise land, the LORD gave Israel a set of instructions along with a set of blessings (if they followed His Word) and curses (if they failed to follow His Word)
One of the chapters that narrates these covenant blessings and curses is Leviticus 26
Now if you want to read a truly wild and downright hardcore chapter read Leviticus 26
I’m not going to read it all but I will read some of the verses that give us the context for what lead Israel into exile
Leviticus 26:3, 6, 11-13
“If you follow my statutes and faithfully observe my commands,
I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten you. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.
I will place my residence among you, and I will not reject you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to live in freedom.
BUT
Leviticus 26:14-15, 25, 31-33
“But if you do not obey me and observe all these commands—if you reject my statutes and despise my ordinances, and do not observe all my commands—and break my covenant,
I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into enemy hands.
I will reduce your cities to ruins and devastate your sanctuaries. I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices. I also will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to live there will be appalled by it. But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword to chase after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins.
And yet, inspite of this, the people not to follow Him
This is actually in part what Nehemiah quotes later on in his prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11
You see the people of Israel began to do a 2 things, they began to take on the lifestyle and sin of the nations who’s land they were taking and then they began to believe that because they had the Temple where the LORD dwelled that they were immune from His discipline
Just before the Exile, God commands Jeremiah the prophet to begin to speak to the people because there were others who were claiming that everything was okay saying “this is the temple of the LORD” - Jeremiah was to tell the people that because of their breaking of the covenant, discipline was coming
But this is what happens, they begun to do exactly as we tend to do, to trust in God’s creation as opposed to God Himself
We fail to remember, just as Israel did, that security comes from the LORD not from a military or walls or any blessing that God gave them or us! No amount of infrastructure or businesses or financial security will remain without the LORD allowing it
Yes God gives good gifts and blessings but the second they become idols, they will be taken
And so, Israel was left in ruin just as the LORD promised it would be if they failed to follow Him
2. The Response of Repentance
2. The Response of Repentance
So now, after being told of the state of Israel as a result of its failures what does Nehemiah do?
Nehemiah 1:4-11
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. I said,
Lord, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands, let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer that I now pray to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned. We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses. Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.” They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand. Please, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.
At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.
Nehemiah begins by repenting, not be moving to fix, not by saying God look what I can do to make this better…he first repents.
Let’s look briefly at Nehemiah’s prayer to really answer what Repentance is
Nehemiah:
(v.5-6a) Understands the Character of God
That God is not obligated to hear or forgive - yet He still does
This understanding is that grace cannot be earned or deserved
Repentance begins with an understanding of the character of God
Of His Holiness and demand for justice
And simultaneously of His graciousness and how He is slow to anger
(v. 6b-9) Confession of sin and who it primarily offends
Nehemiah starts by not just acknowledging sin, but acknowledging that sin primarily is an offense to God
Even if it is a sin against another person, it is an offense primarily to God as it is God’s image on that person
It is God who created and is sustaining that person
And it is God’s commands that layout how we are to treat people
(v.10-11) Moving forward on the promises of God
Nehemiah then ends this prayer, again based on the nature of God but in another area - His nature of Forgiveness and restoration
He does this by recalling the Scriptures, the Word that God Himself gave to teach the people of His grace when they turn back to Him
When faced with the ruin of our failures. When standing before the devastation that sin has left us in, it should drive us back to the LORD
3. The Heart to Rebuild
3. The Heart to Rebuild